Sewing machine



May 24, 1955 w. A. AYRES 2,708,892

SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2'7, 1952 United States Patent SEWING MACHINEWaldemar A. Ayres, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to White Sewing MachineCorporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware ApplicationFebruary 27, 1952, Serial No. 273,680 3 Claims. (Cl. 112-184) Thisinvention relates to a sewing machine and particularly to a sewingmachine of the horizontal bobbin type.

An object of the invention is to provide a sewing machine wherein theoperator can visually determine at all times the quantity of thread onthe bobbin carried by the rotary hook of the sewing machine and locatedbeneath the bed plate thereof.

Another object is to provide a sewing machine such as referred to in thelast named object and wherein the efiiciency of the machine is improvedand its use by the operator is faciltiated in that the latter mayvisually determine throughout the operation of the machine and with outremoving part of the bed plate the quantity of thread on the bobbin ofthe rotary hook and thus will be aware in ample time of the necessity ofreplacing the bobbin with another fully wound bobbin.

Further and additional objects and advantages not hereinbefore referredto will become apparent hereinafter during the detailed description ofseveral forms of the invention and which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is a fragmentary plan view of the bed plate of a sewing machine,and particularly that portion of the bed plate lying beneath the presserfoot and needle bar of the machine and containing the feed dogs andoverlying the rotary hook of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one form of bobbin which may be employed inconjunction with the invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the bobbin shown in Fig. 3 and istaken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of another form of bobbin which may be utilized inconnection with the invention and shows a quantity of thread Wound onthe bobbin, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the bobbin of Fig. 5 and is takensubstantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of thearrows.

The bed plate of the sewing machine is indicated at 10 and the presserfoot and needle bar at 11 and 12 respectively. The rotary vertical shaft13 which mounts the rotary hook 14 and the bobbin casing 15 are shownlocated beneath the bed 10 and adjacent to the feed dog 16. It will beunderstood that the parts so far referred to are conventional in sewingmachine construction and need not be explained in further detail hereinsince they are well understood in the art.

The bed 10 is provided with the usual opening 17 which is closed in partby a plate 18 having slots therein through which the feed dog 16extends. The closing of the opening 17 is completed by a plate 19 and itwill be understood that the plates 18 and 19 are suitably supported onshoulders formed in the bed 10 and extending around the periphery of theopening 17.

The present invention contemplates providing the plate 19 with anopening which overlies the bobbin carrier 15 2,708,892 Patented May 24,1955 2 and is closed by means of a transparent disk 20 suitably securedin the opening in the plate 19 and formed of any suitable transparentmaterial such as glass, transparent plastic and the like. Thetransparent disk 20 provides for the operator visually observing thebobbin which may be mounted in the bobbin carrier 15.

The bobbin 21 shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 is a transparent bobbin beingformed of suitable transparent material such as transparent plastic. Ofcourse the bobbin 21 might have its hub portion formed of opaquematerial with the flanges 21a and 21b of the bobbin secured to the hubportion and with one or both of the flanges 21a and 21b formed oftransparent material. However, for purposes of illustration, the bobbin21 is shown as formed completely of transparent material although, asstated, it need not be so formed provided that the uppermost flange ofthe bobbin when the latter is mounted in the carrier 15 is oftransparent material.

In Fig. 2 a quantity of thread indicated at 22 is shown woundon thebobbin and this thread can be visually observed through the disk Zil ofthe plate 19 and the uppermost flange of the bobbin, wherefore theoperator at all times during the use of the machine can visually observeand determine the quantity of thread on the bobbin without the necessityof removing the plate 19. If desired, one or both flanges of the bobbinmay be provided with a series of numbers, marks or indicationscalibrated with respect to the thread supply on the bobbin as indicatedin Fig. 3.

In place of the bobbin shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 a bobbin of the typeshown in Figs. 5 and 6 might be employed. The bobbin 23 of Figs. 5 and 6is formed of opaque material as, for instance, metal, while one or bothof the flanges 23a and 23b of the bobbin may be provided with a circularseries of openings 24, wherefore when the bobbin 23 is mounted in thecarrier 15 the operator can visually observe the amount of thread 22which is on the bobbin since the same will be visible through theopenings 24 of the uppermost bobbin flange.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a sewing machineprovided with an embodiment of the invention has its elficiencymaterially improved, inasmuch as the operator can visually determine andthus be always aware of the amount of thread on the bobbin. Heretoforeuntil the thread is completely exhausted from the bobbin the operator ofthe sewing machine has been required to remove the plate covering theopening in the bed in order to determine if the bobbin has suflicientthread thereon for a sewing operation which the operator Wishes toperform. The present invention eliminates the necessity for removing theplate to determine the quantity of thread on the bobbin and thusfacilitates and expedites the use of the machine and the performance or"the sewing oper ations thereon, as well as lessening effort on the partof the operator.

Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustratedand described herein it Will be understood that the invention issusceptible of various modifications and adaptations within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. In a sewing machine having a bed provided with an opening adjacent tothe sewing mechanism, a hook beneath said opening and rotatinghorizontally on a vertical axis, a removable plate supported by said bedand closing said opening and having a transparent window thereinvertically aligned with said hook, a bobbin casing carried by said hookand a bobbin mounted in said bobbin casing and having a hub coaxial withsaid hook and a circular flange extending from said hub beneath saidwindow and in closely adjacent parallel relationship therewith andprovided with transparent portions wherefore the operator of the sewingmachine can visually observe through the closure and said transparentportions of the bobbin flange the amount of thread on the bobbin.

2. In a sewing machine as defined in claim 1 and wherein said bobbinflange is formed of transparent material.

3. In a sewing machine as defined in claim 1 and wherein the bobbinflange is provided with indicia calibrated in terms of the quantity ofthread on the bobbin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS WeisApr. 25, 1911 Leathern Mar. 2, 1915 Rontke Aug. 14, 1917 Parkes Feb. 10,1931 Gomez Sept. 2, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Sept. 21, 1905 GreatBritain 1876

